I am watching... Blue Bloods and The Newsroom. I am on a trial run for CraveTV. Sister and I are also watching Agent Carter and Mom joins us to watch the Librarians. I've also started the second season of Voltron.

I am geeking out... on Disney. Sister and I watched a bunch this weekend and in between I looked up Disney stuff on Pinterest.

I played... Pandemic.

One of my favorite things... girl's movie outings

Verse of the week...Micah 6:8 (NIV)
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Song of the Week:

In the Kitchen... It's been pretty average meals the past few weeks. Nothing exciting to share.

A few plans for the rest of the week:...I'm not sure of any at the moment. I had so exciting plans but they fell through.

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

If you haven't seen it before, on my birthday I set a number of goals for the year. This year it is "35 While 35;" the challenges are divided into seven areas, spiritual, relationships, adventure, hobbies, culture, health, and second chances.

The Key

plain text = not startedgreen text = startedpurple text = completed

Spiritual1) Choose My One Word for 2017
My word is "with"

2) Read the New Testament
I'm in Mark, which sounds like I'm not that far but since the Bible I'm using has a different order.

3) Explore Contemplative Spirituality
I've attending three conference type events, read two books, and participated in a six week small group discussion. It has not been exhaustive but it has been a good exploratory start.

4) A Day of Silence

5) Be ThankfulI've been sporadically writing the Thankful Thursdays which helped, the real change has been this year I have a 1000 Thankful Moments in my bullet journal.

Relationships6) Time with My Dad

7) Friend Reunions
I got together with a friend from youth camp and I'm connecting with a few NS friends at the game con.

17) Join a Club/GroupThere are a few teens at my church who have suggested I start a table top games day.

18) Cosplay as a New/Different CharacterI had a few plans...but the convention isn't it May. I thought it was earlier

19) Try Bullet Journalling

20) Create a 40 Before 40 Challenge List
It's started :)

Culture21) Visit a UNESCO World Heritage Site22) See a Musical

23) Participate in a Reading Challenge
My 2017 Reading Challenge list can be found here.

24) Go to a Ballet

25) Attend a ConventionI've registered for a board game convention happening in March!!!

Health26) Be a Vegan for 40 Days

27) Keep a Food Journal

28) Complete a Pull Up
I haven't tried one since September :(

29) Dance
I've started a whole like challenge that includes moving or exercise everyday for 10 minutes. I've been attempting to dance everyday, sadly I'm a week in and have danced twice.

30) Run Walk 5 km
Sister and I did a fun "run" in the fall. I walked all but the first tiny bit. Right now that is what I can manage and that I will count as a win.

Second-Chance31) Finally Paint This Canvas

32) Finish Four Children Stories

33) Make a Video34)Draw More

35) Grow Something to Eat

Conclusion
20 challenges completed!

11 more are in progress.

This might be the best challenge year yet. The biggest issue for me is remembering to remember what is on the list. I am happy with this year's results thus far. As I say almost every year and maybe even every update, the challenge has encouraged me to do more than I would have without it.

Thursday, January 19, 2017

About four years ago a good friend introduced me to My One Word. The idea is that instead of making a list of resolutions that poorly attempt to change behaviour focus on a single word to help focus character transformation.

This year a I've been going through the process with a small group. Last night we were working on the task of choosing our word. Sadly the weather kept many home so this post is going to be an outline of what we discussed and went through. My guide was chapter three of My One Word. Their website also has help on how to pick your word.

1) The Big List of Possible Words
The first step is to make to brainstorm a list of possible words. You can do this by asking yourself questions:

Who do I want to emulate?

What do I want to be known for?

What qualities or characteristics do I want in my life?

What has God been doing in my life?

What has God created me to do?

From your answers make a list of words. There are no wrong words on this list. Write every idea, phrase, and word down that connects.

2) A List of Ten (Or Less)
Next narrow the big list down to ten words or less. For me I pick these ten two ways. First, as I look over my big list I often find patterns or repeated words. That is a sign to me that is an area I want to work on so I add them to the list. I also choose words that resonate with me or words that I just like.

One I have my smaller list of ten I begin to look at those words deeper. I look up their meanings in a dictionary and similar words in a thesaurus. And I look up each word on biblegateway.com. My first time choosing a word it was while looking up in the Bible a word on my list and discovered a synonym for the word "remain" that really stuck with me. So I added "abide" to my list and it ended up being my word. So if in the midst of your research and thinking a new word comes to you add it to your list.3) Choose Your Word
After the process of researching and pondering it is time to select a word. There is no real "secret" it is a word that stands out to you. For me one just seems to click better than the rest. I have always had a word in mind when I start and it is never the final word I choose. The advice from the website says,

Once you have a list of the characteristics, simply pick a word. There might be fifteen things that you want to change, but you must resist the temptation to promise you will do them all. Instead, simply commit to ONE WORD.
This will provide you with a lens to see the changes you need to make as well as a way to determine whether or not change is actually happening. Understand that this process is hard, but staying focused on your word will help you to struggle in the right direction so that you can actually see God working in your life.

A Final Thought
Choosing a word can be useful for anyone to give focus for the upcoming year and not limited to just those of faith. However, my faith in Jesus is a big part of how and why I choose my word. I start and end each step with prayer. I ask for guidance and clarity as I think about possible words, I pray for wisdom as I look up Scripture, and ultimately I trusting that by asking God to give me a word He will.

Thursday, January 05, 2017

I am going to try something new for 2017, well new to me. I have decided to try bullet journaling. One of the "layouts" or "spreads" I wanted to include was a gratitude log.

I've always wanted to try and write a list of at least a thousand unique things I am thankful for. (I don't believe it is grammatically correct to end a sentence with "for" so what is the proper way to word that last thought?) If you write three things you are thankful for everyday you will have a list of 1095. That is my goal. I've titled the page "Counting My Blessings."

I'll be sharing a few of the weeks gratitude here on the blog. This week I am thankful for...

Monday, January 02, 2017

It's been two year's since I signed up for any reading challenges. What I've missed most is discovering new authors or books I would never have considered without a challenge. It's the reason I decided to include participation in a reading challenge as part of the 35 While 35 Challenge.

This afternoon I google "reading challenges 2017" and found a great master list full of challenge options. I've choose seven to try:

With 2017 here I thought it was time to look at my birthday challenges again. It has been four months since the last review.

If you haven't seen it before, on my birthday I set a number of goals for the year. This year it is "35 While 35;" the challenges are divided into seven areas, spiritual, relationships, adventure, hobbies, culture, health, and second chances.

I am watching... Troll Hunters with Sister in don't think we'll ever finish Gilmore Girls, Mom and I finished The Pretender this past week, and I have three episodes left of Stranger Things.

I am geeking out... on VR, my cousin has a system and it was so much fun. Sister took videos of me...I looked ridiculous but had a blast. Also DC comics I got two cute Itty Bitty Aquaman and Supergirl for Christmas.

Also this...

I played... Firefly Fluxx New Year's Eve and Pandemic this evening.

One of my favorite things... Duvets

Verse of the week...Philippians 1:6 (NIV)
"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

Song of the Week:

In the Kitchen... I tried to make poutine. It looked prettier before I started to eat, but I still wanted a picture of the yummy creation:

Then for New Year's Eve....

A few plans for the rest of the week:...work starts again and we're taking down Christmas.

Happening On The Blog:... I still have so many movie reviews Assassin's Creed, Sing, Rogue One, Hacksaw Ridge and the new Anne of Green Gables. I was also thinking about a Doctor Who review.